Koda Amsterdam

This brand pro­du­ces its acce­sso­ri­es in Dut­ch wor­k­shops. This is gre­at beca­use Dut­ch labo­ur rules are in for­ce the­re, but also beca­use koda ams­ter­dam spe­ci­fi­cal­ly cho­oses soci­al wor­k­shops which pro­vi­de people with tra­ining to deve­lop the­ir talents. The­se are people who are out­si­de of the labo­ur for­ce and allows them to be reintegrated. 

Depen­ding on the skil­ls needed for the spe­ci­fic design, the pro­duc­ts are made in dif­fe­rent wor­k­shops. Pan­tar Ams­ter­dam, whe­re most of koda’s acce­sso­ri­es are made with love, care and pri­de, employs people who have dif­fi­cul­ti­es (re)integrating the labo­ur mar­ket and gives them the chan­ce to deve­lop the­ir skil­ls and talent here. 

The Werel­dwij­ven ate­li­er Dor­drec­ht brin­gs toget­her over 85 women from dif­fe­rent cul­tu­res. Soci­al com­mit­ment, craf­t­sman­ship and cre­ati­vity are para­mo­unt here. koda makes the most of the high-quality embro­idery tec­h­niqu­es used in this ate­li­er by pro­du­cing its blan­kets here. 

The team at ONS Label Bre­da loves need­le and thre­ad, colo­urs, pat­ter­ns and quality fabrics. In this lively wor­k­shop, newco­mers, star­ters and tra­ine­es get to work on koda ams­ter­dam’s cool accessories. 

koda ams­ter­dam’s acce­sso­ri­es are made from clip­pin­gs or lef­to­ver fabrics. The­se are pieces of fabric that, in the case of koda ams­ter­dam, are left over from cut­ting fabric for cur­ta­ins, fur­ni­tu­re and tents. They come from fur­ni­tu­re manu­fac­tu­rer De Plo­eg, win­dow deco­ra­ti­on com­pany Luxa­flex, bed manu­fac­tu­rer Auping and Kar­sten Tenten. 

Due to dif­fe­rent fabrics being left over each time, it is dif­fi­cult to say what the pro­duc­ts are pre­ci­sely com­po­sed of. The bags made from Kar­sten tent fabric are cot­ton canvas, whi­le tho­se from De Plo­eg are mos­tly made from natu­ral mate­ri­als such as wool.

Leat­her is used for the hand­les of the bags or the zip loops of the cases. This is ​“new” leat­her, but it is vege­ta­ble tan­ned so no har­m­ful che­mi­cals are used. The labels are made from polyes­ter and the zips are metal. 

koda ams­ter­dam is cir­cu­lar! By upcy­cling fabric clip­pin­gs, they ensu­re raw mate­ri­als that would otherwi­se have gone to lan­d­fill are given a new life. The acce­sso­ri­es also last a long time beca­use the fur­ni­tu­re fabric is tough and real­ly good quality.

koda ams­ter­dam has a short cha­in. The design pha­se hap­pens in the Net­her­lan­ds, the mate­ri­als are col­lec­ted from Dut­ch com­pa­ni­es and the final acce­sso­ri­es are made in the Netherlands.

Ani­mal mate­ri­als are used in most koda ams­ter­dam pieces but only small quan­ti­ti­es of cow leat­her are used. Leat­her is usu­al­ly a by-pro­duct of the meat indus­try, want to know more abo­ut the sus­ta­ina­bi­lity of leat­her? Then read this blog. koda ams­ter­dam is also looking for vegan alter­na­ti­ves to leat­her, but the­se are not always stur­dy or eco-friendly. 

Some bags or cases are made out of wool but beca­use this wool is reused, no new she­ep had to be she­ared for it. It would be a sha­me if this wool ended up in lan­d­fill ins­te­ad, right?

All of the pieces are desig­ned by Dut­ch desig­ners. They base the­ir desig­ns on the vari­ous clip­pin­gs of cur­ta­in fabric, fur­ni­tu­re uphol­s­tery and tents that frequ­en­tly come in. Talen­ted people out­si­de of the labo­ur for­ce tran­sform the­se into pen­cil cases, bags, cushi­ons and blan­kets in Dut­ch soci­al workshops. 

koda ams­ter­dam tur­ns ​“was­te” into beauti­ful objec­ts whe­re quality and beauty are the num­ber one priority. 

Foun­der Diana always pays atten­ti­on to quality when selec­ting fabrics so that your koda ams­ter­dam acce­sso­ri­es will last as long as possible.

koda ams­ter­dam’s desig­ns are time­less and colo­ur­ful. Most acce­sso­ri­es come in loads of dif­fe­rent colo­urs so you can cho­ose the one that suits you the most. The­ir desig­ns are sim­ple and stylish.

The fabrics are always the star­ting point in the­se Dut­ch desig­ners’ cre­ati­ve pro­cess. When Diana, the foun­der of koda ams­ter­dam sees that a cer­ta­in fabric leads to a lot of off­cuts, she asks the desig­ners what they can do with it and they get to work. This is how koda wor­ks with Nik­ki Giling, Roos Soete­ko­uw and Mari­eke van Heck, who each have the­ir own cre­ati­ve style. 

Tran­s­pa­ren­cy is very impor­tant to koda ams­ter­dam which is why each pro­duct has a label indi­ca­ting the num­ber of the bag, the name of the desig­ner and whe­re the fabric came from. You will also find deta­iled des­crip­ti­ons on the­ir web­si­te for the fabric sup­pli­ers and the ate­li­ers whe­re the acce­sso­ri­es are made. 

Only the ori­gin of the leat­her and the zips and yarn are unknown.